I went to Russia some years ago and went out with the Russian Police. It was an experience.

None of the front line troops possessed a car, they simply couldn’t afford one. You had to be about the rank of colonel before you had your own car. Everyone lived in a flat. The job sent a truck round collecting officers from their flats at the start of the shift, and dropping them off at the end. The basic patrol car was the Lada, though the Gucci boys in the Moscow Traffic Police had nice shiny Ford Crown Victorias.

The road safety was somewhat different to the UK. In my time there we came across 2 fatal accidents. The body from one was laying in the central reservation as the traffic filtered through. It remained uncovered. And this was during the incident Â and after the police arrived. No road closures, no scene preservation. Small shrines littered the roads, areas marked by small fences, almost like a personalised grave, they often contained parts of the vehicles, like steering wheels or tyres, presumably driven by the deceased.

Many drivers in Russia are now fitting dashboard cams to capture evidence in case they are involved in an RTC.

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